Alex Perez will be a familiar face to any viewers of Good Morning America and other ABC news shows. The Chicago-based correspondent has worked for the channel since 2012.
What you might not know, unless you follow him on social media, is that he’s a happily married gay man. He and husband Kevin Gregory tied the knot on January 13, 2018, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Swipe left on the Instagram posting below to see a video of them exchanging vows.
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The two men, who cutely refer to themselves as “Kevex” are dog daddies to a French bulldog named Javi.
It’s not known when the couple met, but they’ve been an item since at least 2015. That year, they experienced an unpleasant incident in Chicago that made the local news.
On the day the US Supreme Court issued its ruling on same-sex marriage. Perez and Gregory shared an Uber ride. They sat in the back and held hands. On seeing they were holding hands, the driver made them get out and refused to take them any further.
“Today I rode in your cab and your driver kicked my partner and I out of his cab because he did not want gay couples in his cab,” Perez wrote in a Facebook post.
“We were miles from our destination and it was pouring rain. When I tried to photograph his badge, he tried to take my phone. He cancelled the fare and said we would never be able to find him. This is unacceptable and against the law. Something needs to be done.”
The driver was swiftly barred from using Uber, and the company apologized.
Hiding his sexuality until his mid-20s
Perez, 44, has reported on LGBTQ+ issues in his role with ABC. He also wrote a personal essay in 2020 about coming out as gay.
Of Cuban heritage, he says he fought against his sexuality as a teenager. He remembered feeling different from other boys when he was in fifth grade. He’d been called a “sissy” and it stung him.
“Not being myself that one random day in fifth grade would become the shaky foundation I would live nearly two decades of my life — pretending to be something I wasn’t.”
He dated girls and felt tormented about trying to hide his sexuality. He says he even contemplated ending his life.
“I feared my traditionally Cuban, machista family would abandon me … Why would I want to go on living a life where I could never be myself?”
Coming out to his mom
Perez found the courage to speak out. The first person he told was his mom. To his great relief, she showed him support and acceptance.
“Suddenly every single insecure, horrifying, uncomfortable moment I had until that point flashed before me. But those moments somehow, instantly, didn’t matter anymore,” he recalled.
“Tears streamed down my face. My shoulders suddenly felt light. My spine seemed to lengthen. And I somehow knew in that moment that even if no one else were ever to accept me for who I am, I had the acceptance of the person that mattered most in my life.”
Perez went on to say, “Making the decision to come out profoundly changed my life. It deepened my relationships with the people that mattered. It removed a blindfold allowing me to see those in my life who didn’t matter.”
“Coming out allowed me to find and marry the love of my life.”
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